The Founder's Story
Kaye Cruz & The Katrina Story
"We came to report the storm. We left changed by what the dogs taught us about survival."
Kaye Cruz — Founder, Ruff Rough INC
For more than 25 years, Kaye Cruz chased hurricanes, floods, and wildfires for national news outlets. He had seen rooftops torn off, neighborhoods erased, families standing in waist-deep water clutching whatever they could carry.
But Hurricane Katrina was different. Not because of the wind or the water — Kaye had reported on both many times. It was different because of the dogs.
"They were drinking saltwater because there was nothing else.
We watched them die looking for their families."
Gulfport, Mississippi — 2005
The first morning on the Gulf coast, Kaye and his crew walked a stretch of beach that should have been empty. It wasn't. Scattered along the sand were dogs — collars still on, fur matted with salt — that had wandered for days searching for fresh water and never found it.
They had been left behind in evacuation orders that didn't allow pets. Some had escaped backyards as the storm surged. All of them had done the only thing they knew how to do: keep looking for the people who loved them.
The crew lowered cameras. There was nothing to broadcast that would do this justice. There was only the decision of what to do next.
NBC crew rescues dogs post Hurricane Katrina — 2005
The Decision to Act
When fellow media colleague Harrison rolled in with an RV — full of supplies, food, fuel, power, even air conditioning in 100-degree heat — the basecamp became something more than a place to sleep. It became the beginning of an operation.
By day, the crew filed reports. By night and between assignments, they coordinated water drops, located stranded animals, drove dogs to temporary shelters, reunited pets with evacuated families across state lines. Word spread. More journalists pitched in. So did first responders, vets, and locals who had lost almost everything but still found something to give.
Out of that strange, exhausting, holy week — the group earned a name: Ruff Rough. A nod to the dogs themselves. A promise that the next disaster would not catch them unprepared.
From Gulfport to Today
August 2005
Hurricane Katrina Makes Landfall
Kaye Cruz arrives in Gulfport, Mississippi as part of an NBC news crew. The devastation is unlike anything two decades of disaster reporting had prepared him for.
Days After
Dogs on the Beach
Wandering the shoreline searching for water, dogs drink saltwater and die from dehydration. Kaye and his colleagues find them — abandoned, exhausted, gone. Something breaks open.
The Turning Point
Harrison's RV Arrives
A media colleague rolls in with an RV — supplies, food, power, air conditioning. It becomes a basecamp. The crew shifts from documenting the crisis to actively rescuing animals.
2005 → 2006
Ruff Rough is Born
Named for the dogs they pulled from the wreckage, the group formalizes. They begin coordinating with federal, state, and local agencies on combined animal-and-people rescue.
Today
A 501(c)(3) Movement
Ruff Rough INC honors K-9 heroes nationally, runs the Drones4Dogs search-and-rescue program, and stands ready when the next storm comes ashore.
What the Dogs Taught Us
Kaye still tells the story the same way: the dogs of Katrina didn't give up. Even dehydrated, even alone, they kept walking. They kept looking. They kept hoping someone would come.
Ordinary Dogs, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Survival™
Carry the Story Forward
Twenty years later, the work continues every time a dog goes missing, every time a storm forms in the Gulf. Help us answer the next call.